It is well known to employ a tray when transporting irregular or fragile pieces of luggage or goods from a check-in counter at, e.g., an airport, to a predetermined destination, such as a certain departure gate, using a conveyor system.
Thus, in many airport check-in areas a tray is used when an irregular or fragile piece of luggage is brought to the check-in counter. The trays are carried manually from a storage area to the check-in counter by an operator operating the check-in counter.
In other known systems, trays or carts are used for conveying every single piece of luggage brought to a check-in counter, including the ones not necessarily needing support from a tray or a cart. Systems of this kind are disclosed in European patent applications Nos. EP 0 456 297 A2 and EP 0 556 037 A1.
European patent application No. EP 0 456 297 A2 discloses an endless conveyor for conveying trays carrying pieces of luggage. The system further comprises a supply conveyor and two discharge conveyors. The supply conveyor feeds the trays carrying the pieces of luggage onto the endless conveyor, and the two discharge conveyors move the luggage and the empty trays, respectively, away from the endless conveyor.
European patent application No. 0 556 037 A1 discloses a baggage handling system for use at an aircraft passenger check-in position. The system comprises lift means for lifting empty baggage-conveying carts or trays from a position below the check-in area to the check-in counter. The luggage is placed in a cart and is checked in. The cart carrying the luggage is then lowered by the lift means, and is thereby moved to a conveyor system positioned below the level of the check-in area.